The Patidar community leader from Gujarat, Hardik Patel, and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee met in Kolkata. In the formal meeting between the two, Patel extended his support in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Hinting at BJP, he said,
“I will definitely come here to campaign during the Lok Sabha elections in 2019… But we all have to be united to fight those who are trying to divide the country.”
Patel is the Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) leader who gained prominence after his Patidar agitation demanding reservation. He later took to express in his tweet the simplicity, selflessness, and farsightedness of Mamata Banerjee. He even went on to compare her to Indira Gandhi/Lady Gandhi.
क्या बात है !! सादगी का मतलब ममता दीदी
आज में लेडी गांधी और वेस्ट बेंगॉल के मुख्यप्रधान @MamataOfficial को मिला
दीदी ने मुझे कहा कि प्रामाणिकता,होशियारी,पारदर्शिता और अपने विचारों से आगे बढ़ो भगवान आपको सफलता देगा
दीदी ने अपने ओफिस से मुझे कलकत्ता का नज़ारा दिखाया ।। pic.twitter.com/fwXiGpWVUf— Hardik Patel ( Modi Ka Parivar ) (@HardikPatel_) February 9, 2018
If reports are to be believed, the Trinamool Congress supreme has invited Patel to manage the party affairs in Gujarat.
“But if you ask my personal opinion, I will say she is an intelligent woman who has a history of being a revolutionary leader and she should come forward to be the leader (of opposition parties),” he said.
Patel commended Banerjee’s work in the Bhuj earthquake in 2001 and extended an invitation to visit Gujarat for women empowerment. In response to the question on purpose of the meeting, Patel said he was here to seek blessings of Banerjee. “I have not come for any political reasons.”
“She has openly told me that whenever I want to join politics the door of TMC is open for me and you can manage the party in Gujarat. But I told her I do not have political aspiration now. But if I decide to join politics, I would definitely seek her advice,” Patel said.
“There are so many Gujaratis and people from the Kurmi community in West Bengal. Didi has sent a recommendation to include the Kurmi community in schedule tribe but not in the OBC…”
Hitting hard at the opposition he said, I did not see anything wrong as “spread by the oppositions about Kolkata”.
Banerjee described Patel as “like my younger brother”. She also commended him by saying, “He is very good and sensitive. He is fighting for the people of Gujarat…I have asked him to join politics and work for the good of the common man.”